ShotSpotter Technology Will Be Coming To Avondale

The Cincinnati Police Department is working to finalize a contract to bring the ShotSpotter system to Avondale.

The system uses microphones to pick up and locate gunfire.

It would cover a three-square mile area and cost $235,000 to install. There is also a $200,000 a year maintenance fee.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said the system will reduce response times to shots fired incidents.

"Not instantaneous, but we're getting close to making sure that our officers are aware of, once we get the technology, as close as can be possible to when it actually occurred," Neudigate said.

Neudigate said with ShotSpotter, on average, an officer can be notified about gunfire in about 40 seconds after the gunshot. That compares now to someone calling 911 to report gunfire, which can take four to five minutes for the call to be dispatched to an officer.

Avondale was selected as a pilot location for the project because of the high number of shooting incidents in the neighborhood.

The system is currently used in New York, Milwaukee, and Denver.

"30 percent of all shots fired incidents in their city are ever reported to the police," Neudigate said. "So that means we are missing out on about 70 percent of those incidents across the board that we're not even aware of."

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black, Mayor John Cranley and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters traveled to Denver earlier this year to view the ShotSpotter system in that city.

Cranley praised the system and made it a priority item in his "State of the City" address in October.